Student voices: Sustainable Finance

Facing the Energy Transition Prepared

We sat down with past-student Leo Kirby, Managing Director at Principled Investments, to understand more about his motivations for joining CISL's Sustainable Finance online short course, and the outcomes and experiences that made this programme valuable for him.

What motivated you to attend the sustainable finance course at CISL? 

I was motivated to attend the sustainable finance course at CISL because after spending a couple of decades in the energy sector and realising all of the different dynamics and changes going on in the energy transition. It was important for me to be kept abreast of latest policy context and thinking with regards to sustainable finance. My roles have been closely related to investment in the energy sector and the energy transition. My motivations for then joining the course was to understand new strategies, capital decision making processes, how to manage reporting and tracking performance. Beyond that it was the practioner lead approach with case studies and interactive style of learning that suited the way in which I could absorb all of the content and put it to good use. 

What challenges did you face then and how did the course help you overcome these? 

The challenges I was facing at the time of doing the course was that we were taking on a new client who had a brief to redevelop all their investment strategies. My approach to that role was to embed within that a redesign of strategies and sustainable thinking and embedding within the investment decision making process, the inclusion of sustainability as well as other approaches in terms of social impact and the broader impact on community, in which those investments would have. I found it useful as I was making a change in adopting a new client and taking on that piece of work. The course was able to give me a lot of confidence to explain all of the complexity that was going on in the sustainability world and to distil it down into something that we could incorporate in a coherent strategy. I felt that the frameworks, tools and actual detail of the approaches allowed me to determine which was best for the situation. Being aware of all the breadth of the different approaches that could be taken is important to narrow down which one is the best suit. As a result, I found that the course was extremely impactful at the time because of those changes and I have been able to follow this through with other clients and positions. 

How has the course changed your perspective on financial system sustainability? 

The course helped to change my perspective on financial system sustainability. It has been very encouraging that ESG has been embraced as well as green finance and sustainability within the financial world. On the other hand, there is a tendency to focus on compliance, box ticking and meeting the needs to put in an annual report, rather than the way business is being done and the way that people conduct and behave within their roles. What I found most useful was the perspective in terms of systems thinking and the way that sustainability can play a role will be the critical change that is required. I don’t think that we need lots of new frameworks and measures or to keep repeating ESG, instead be a part of doing business better. As a result of that if we are heading towards net zero, creating a more biodiverse environment, more equal societies then those will be the important outcomes that companies in their own way will define what they are able to impact to head in the right direction. The course was to really bring this to the core of what a company does and to embed into activities and strategies all the way through to implementation. 

How has this course impacted your career? 

The course has impacted my career as I now feel that I can engage with more credibility to a broad range of stakeholders from government, regulators, project developers, and founders of companies. I now have much more of a sense to relate to where other people are in their personal journey with regards to sustainability and try to impart knowledge that I have learnt from on the course, as well as my own thinking beyond the course, I can encourage people to do more reading, learning and looking at new approaches, looking at how other companies have solved the same challenges with sustainability as the key focus. It allowed me to be an ambassador for sustainable finance. I pin a lot of that to the course, but it is also about one does beyond the course in terms of beginning to apply and develop your own approach with the tools from the course which is so critical. 

Can you tell us of a project where you have applied concepts from the course? 

The key project I was involved in was developing a new strategy for a family office investment group who tended to approach things from a traditional manner, in terms of looking at venture capital, private equity growth, buyouts, infrastructure and real estate. They classified things in a more rigid manner in terms of the product or sector that they were investing in rather than the rationale for investing in them. I was able to redevelop this by providing education and a clear framework using some of the course content and then began to rebuild a strategy which took a more thematic and principle based view on how to make investments, why to make certain investments and once you are making investments how to build that in to a comprehensive portfolio approach which incorporates the key principles that we were trying to build the strategy around. Changing the thinking was the key project and initiative I was undertaking and the sustainable finance course was really impactful, I went on the course at the right time to be able to shift thinking in a direction that I truly believed in and this fit with what the client was looking at to do in redesigning the way they invested. 

What advice would you give to anyone considering a CISL online course? 

My advice to anyone considering any of the courses to someone attending a course from CISL would be to think through why you are doing it, and if you are doing it from a perspective of continual learning or if you have a particular reason in terms of a career change, a new project or role that you are pursuing, or a desire to move into a role that better relates to some of the course materials. Taking the time out and the pause to learn in a manner where you are getting the latest context, thinking, interacting with interesting delegates. Each cohort is different and each one is extremely rich and deep in the network that it they create. Beyond that, thinking about whether the style of CISL practioner lead, case study led, hands on and interactive in the sense that you are beginning to respond to the content in real time with the course tutors and other cohorts. If this style suits you then you can absorb the materials quickly and benefit from the interactive experience. 

How has the CISL network supported your journey?

The CISL network is really the hidden gem of doing any of the courses at CISL, it opens up a broad alumnus of people that you have something in common to approach people with, including those that have done different courses to yourself. There is also the immediate cohort that are involved in the course where you can continue to maintain relationships. In addition to this CISL provides networking events, webinars and thought pieces which can continue to enhance your learning. The network consists of people, content, alumni and a CISL brand association. It gives you an ability to relate to other people that have gone through the same or similar kind of experiences with the organisations and that is valuable to anyone’s career or personally to have a broader set of connections.